Serious Fire Breaks out at Notre Dame Cathedral Paris. One of the World's finest Musical Instruments Destroyed.

[ryanosaur]

Thanks, since the Rome Catholic owns the building shouldn't be a problem from them to restore they are the richest religion on the planet. Last I heard they have trillions.

For me its about the history. Almost a millennia of it. Especially being into architecture. If the building is curently structurally sound, and the walls may continue to stand... well that's a testament to the old saying: "they don't build 'em like that anymore." The cornerstone was laid in 1160, if I recall correctly. And when you look at old Cathedrals like that, Mosques as well... its the crowning achievement of an Architect, the way a Symphony is of a Composer, say. Even if you are not religious, you can't help but be in awe of those buildings!

 

[rojo]

http://imgur.com/fhQYRY3

Imgur source post also lists a bunch of donations received as of 8 hours ago. Looks like there's a lot of financial backing to get Notre Dame rebuilt. Also, Macron has pledged to rebuild it better than ever, and have the rebuild completed in 5 years. The Vatican has offered to assist with the rebuild as well. Things could've definitely been worse.

I was heartbroken when I heard of this yesterday. Long ago I had the great honor of performing with a choir in Notre Dame. There was an 8-second reverb -- not something you want in a home theater, of course, but in a live choral performance the effect was ethereal. I was moved to tears during the performance. I was crushed last night when I thought I could be among the last generation to experience that. Today, I have hope.

 

[Swerd]

All accounts confirm the Great Organ has survived.

CBS News
"Gregoire, Paris' deputy mayor, said on Tuesday that the famed "Great Organ" from Notre Dame, among the most famous and largest in the world, remained intact after the devastating blaze. The Great Organ, one of two in the structure, was built by Francois Thierry in the mid-18th century. It has an estimated 8,000 pipes."

NPR News
French Minister of Culture Franck Riester said some of the most significant treasures had been saved …

BBC News
"Saving France's 850-year-old Notre-Dame cathedral came down to a crucial time window of 15-30 minutes, France's deputy interior minister has said. Laurent Nuñez praised the "courage and determination" of firefighters who "risked their own lives" to salvage the building's stone structure and its two towers. The fire ravaged the cathedral's roof and caused its spire to collapse.

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild it within five years.

The cause of the blaze is unclear.

"We now know it all came down to 15-30 minutes," Mr Nuñez said, adding that police and fire services would spend the next 48 hours assessing the security and safety of the structure.

Paris public prosecutor Rémy Heitz said his office was "favouring the theory of an accident", but had assigned 50 people to investigate the origin of the fire."

Uncited sources said officials are reviewing surveillance videos and seek The Hunchback and several of his less reputable Gargoyle buddies for questioning. These individuals were said to be seen smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, while perched on the upper scaffolding before the fire broke out. [Is it too soon?]

 

[rojo]

The roof:

http://imgur.com/7c6A3QK

 

[rojo]

Uncited sources said officials are reviewing surveillance videos and seek The Hunchback and several of his less reputable Gargoyle buddies for questioning. These individuals were said to be seen smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, while perched on the upper scaffolding before the fire broke out. [Is it too soon?]

I guess not. *sigh* That isn't even the most tasteless joke I've seen today about the Notre Dame fire. Nope, that honor goes to this pic:

Spoiler: Too soon!

Give it a few seconds to load...

 

[Verdinut]

The Holy Crown of Thorns was also saved! Money is also coming in worldwide for restoration purposes. That is a good sign.


Cheers,

Phil

The Vatican has all the money to rebuild it!

 

[lovinthehd]

The right wing conspiracy theories abound already too. Those gargoyles, tho...

 

[mtrycrafts]

I am surprised that the renovation of such a historic structure with priceless things would not have had an on sight fire truck, even a private one, for such a project, especially knowing all that ancient wood strictures inside it.

 

[Verdinut]

The right wing conspiracy theories abound already too. Those gargoyles, tho...

Some psychics suspect either a conspiracy against Macron or the action of a careless or malicious person. Either one definitely is a possibility!

The wood supporting the roof was over eight centuries old and obviously dry, as vulnerable to catch fire as a sheet of paper.

 

[Verdinut]

IT TOOK 180 YEARS TO COMPLETE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS MEDIEVAL CATHEDRAL, BUT LESS THAN ONE DAY TO DESTROY MOST OF IT!

WHAT A SAD EVENT!

 

[TLS Guy]

The Vatican has all the money to rebuild it!

The Vatican do not own Notre Dame Cathedral. It is owned by the French Ministry of Culture, who are responsible for its upkeep. Like most actions and endeavors of governments they have been incompetent in discharging their responsibilities and have done a very poor job of upkeep. I think this will prove to be a prime cause of this tragedy.

 

[speakerman39]

According to GMA there has already been a billion dollars pledged so far to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral. In every crisis lies opportunity. This is the perfect example.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Verdinut]

Can you recommend any recordings made of performances from this organ?

I have one CD and two SACDs with Olivier Latry playing the organ at the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral. The three discs are amazing.

Olivier is the Honorary Organist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal at the recently built Maison Symphonique. Several years ago, I had the opportunity of seeing him play the Casavant organ at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal. Mr. Latry is a virtuoso player. For example, as an encore, he played only using the pedals Rachmaninov's Variations on a theme by Paganini. With the two big screens installed in the nave, we could see the pedals. I will never forget that and I always wished that DGG record him for a release on Blu-ray of this virtuosic performance.

As for the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, it is a slightly reduced copy of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral.

The main construction work took place between 1824 and 1829. The cornerstone was laid at Place d'Armes on September 1, 1824. The sanctuary was finished in 1830, and the first tower in 1841, the second in 1843. On its completion, the church was the largest in North America. It remained the largest in North America for over fifty years.

Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal
If you Google it, you will be able to see several pictures of its somptuous interior.

 

[Swerd]

NPR News reports further on the status of the organ at Notre Dame.

Oliver Latry says "the organ pipes themselves – some 8,000 of them – were not severely damaged. The main issues may be fixing the water damage to the organ's wind chest from when firefighters put out the blaze. It's the box where it provides air on the pipes," he says. "So we have to check all of those things. And, of course, the electric system. ... The organ has an electric system, which was installed in the last restoration, and as you know, electricity and water doesn't work together."

"The staff members of Notre Dame are still figuring out how they will make these repairs. They may have to take apart the organ – that's normally done by hoisting it up on a pulley attached to the roof, which is now gone."

 

[lovinthehd]

Further follow up article https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/arts/music/notre-dame-organ-fire.html

 

[Phase 2]

Just read a articles that the works may have been smoking while doing repairs.

 

[Verdinut]

Just read a articles that the works may have been smoking while doing repairs.

Did you mean that some workers may have been smoking on the job?

 

[Phase 2]

Did you mean that some workers may have been smoking on the job?

According to the article they where smoking while doing the work.

 

[Verdinut]

According to the article they where smoking while doing the work.

It just takes one careless worker to cause a catastrophe!

There are many accounts of fires on old structures caused by a worker working with a torch in Canada. I'm sure that it happened in many other countries.